


Nova

by Hagar



Series: Project: Aftermath [5]
Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Genre: Character Study, Female Characters, Female Friendship, Female Protagonist, Female-Centric, Gen, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-04-15
Updated: 2005-04-15
Packaged: 2017-10-02 16:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hagar/pseuds/Hagar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are certain disadvantages to the Ranger aura of vitality.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nova

**Author's Note:**

> Loving gratitude to beta reader Roie.

_Where is the goddamn machinata?_ Leo growled as she looked at the four open cupboards and the three shelves. The machinata was nowhere, and it was beginning to get annoying. She slammed the cupboards closed, and opened the last two. _Where the hell did Kim put the thing?_ she wondered, rummaging furiously for the lost coffee pot. _And what is it with Kim and hiding stuff? Why can’t I drink coffee because she thinks it’s unhealthy?_ That was unfair, and Leo knew it. Kim wasn’t one for hiding things on purpose – she probably just put the machinata “in its place”, and forgot that Leo couldn’t find anything that wasn’t on the counter. Still, it was annoying. Leo slammed the two doors shut – _did I just break something?_ – and growled again, passing her fingers through her hair. She’ll just have to drink instant, then. Any good cookies left? A quick check revealed an entire bag of peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies – but there was only enough instant left for one cup, and as much as she wanted coffee now, she’ll need it more tomorrow morning.

_Damn_.

She gave up. She found a small pot and the cocoa, and settled for hot chocolate. She would not drink tea, even though there were at least ten kinds of the thing smiling at her from the shelves. Damn Kim and her healthy eating habits. _What on Earth possessed me to room with a by-the-book perfect eater? More to the point, why don’t I get a grip and go grocery shopping?_ She jotted “instant coffee” on the grocery list, wrote: “Do not hide Leo’s stuff” in big, black capital letters on the whiteboard and underlined it twice. She moved to find a jar for the cookies, but reached for the bread knife instead when she heard someone at the door.

_Burglar!_

Then she heard the telltale sound of keys being stopped into the china bowl, a familiar shuffling of feet, and a small sigh.

_Kim?_ Leo glanced at the watch. _But it’s too early! She and Danny went out tonight! Oh no…_ There was only one thing this could mean. _Not again_. She put the knife back in place, and peered outside the kitchen.

There was Kim, in that big faux-fur coat that made her look so tiny, standing next to the door and blinking furiously. Leo’s heart sank.

“Hi, Kim”, she said quietly.

Kim’s head turned sharply. “Leo? I thought you’d be asleep”. She sniffed. “Is that hot chocolate I’m smelling?”

“Yeah, good thing we ran out of coffee”. Leo shifted. “Well, take that coat off and come in already. It’s almost ready”

Kim smiled, sheepishly, then hung the coat on the rack and came in the kitchen. “Smells good. Why can’t I ever get the hot chocolate to smell so good?”

“That’s because you microwave it”. _Still in shock_, figured Leo. _She probably ran straight home. At least he had the decency to tell her right away, the jerk_. Then again, she knew that Danny was not a jerk. He was a nice guy, really – but. “So”, said Leo nonchalantly, “Danny broke up with you?”

“How’d you guess?”

“Well, you’re home several hours too early, you’re obviously depressed, and your eyes are red” said Leo dryly. She took the pot off the stove poured it into two mugs and put the mugs on the table. “Drink your chocolate”

“You are the most tactless person I ever met”, said Kim. She sank into a chair and picked the mug closer to her. Leo set on the other chair.

“I’d rather think of myself as brutally honest” said Leo.

“Being dumped sucks”

“I agree. Want me to disembowel him?”

“_Leo!_”

“What? I can, you know”

“You can, and you would, and that’s why I’m worried. God, don’t do that, Leo, you’re scaring me” Leo trying her best innocent smile – which, unfortunately, looked more like a murderous smirk.

“Sorry. Hi, come on, I didn’t kill any of your other exes, didn’t I?”

“You mean you didn’t kill any of them _yet_”. Kim rubbed her eyes tiredly. “I am rooming with a dormant psychopathic killer”

“Am not! Last we checked, you kicked my ass!”

“I’m not the one carrying a knife!”

“That’s because you’re a good person!”

Kim crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.

Leo growled. “Fine, you win”

Kim sipped her cocoa.

“What reason did he give?” asked Leo after a moment or two of silence. “The usual?”

“Yeah” said Kim. She wiped away some tears. Leo got up in search of tissues. “Said that it’s not me, it’s him, and that it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about me very deeply… Same old trash. Thanks” Leo was back with the tissue box.

“You’re welcome”. Leo picked up her mug and leaned against the chair, not sitting down. “He lasted almost three months. That’s not bad”

“I’ve had enough of three-months flings! I want a proper relationship! Why can’t a find a normal guy?”

“Some girls would kill for the kind of guys who fall for you”, said Leo wryly. “They’re witty, kind, chivalrous and they’re almost always good-looking”

“And they all have fear of commitment. No, that’s not true”. Kim’s voice turned bitter. “Greg, Steve, Allen…” she counted down on her fingers. “At least five guys I dated have a record of long-term relationships”

“Kim…” warned Leo. She had a feeling she knew where this was getting – and unfortunately, she wasn’t wrong.

“So is there something wrong with me? What is it about me that scares guys away?”

Leo wanted to curse; she wanted to smash something, or someone; this was so unfair. _She doesn’t deserve it. Kim just doesn’t fucking deserve to feel like that. Damn them all for hurting her like that_. “Kim, listen to me”, said Leo, leaning forward and placing down the mug before it spilled. “There is nothing wrong with you. You’re perfect. You’re kind, smart – despite how hard you try to hide it – you’ve got a heart so big I don’t know how it fits inside of you and you’re so drop dead gorgeous that it should be fucking outlawed to be as pretty as you are, with those big doe eyes and curves to die for”

Kim smiled, but faintly. “Do you have a crush on me, Leo?”

Leo raised an eyebrow. “Think I’d room with you if I did?”

That drew a chuckle out of Kim, but it faded quickly. “I don’t believe you”, she said, matter-of-factly. “I can’t believe you. I’ve had my share of relationships and dates, Leo, but only one of them lasted for more than a couple of months. There has to be something wrong with me”

“Kim, there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s them”

“I’m one, they’re many. It makes more sense that…”

“No, you listen to me, Kim”, said Leo firmly. Finally giving up, she sat down. “Okay, maybe I didn’t put it right. There’s nothing wrong with either you or any of the guys you ever dated. You are just… well, too much”

“Too much?” Kim frowned, not understanding. “But I…”

“You’re different, Kim”, said Leo quietly. “I’ve known that since I met you. Anyone who sees you knows that. It’s radiating off of you like some kind of freaking aura. You’re like this huge light bulb or something. You’re too…” Leo shook her head. “It’s like you’re too much alive or something. You’re on a totally different plain than the rest of us”

“You’re not making sense”

“Aren’t I?” challenged Leo. She saw that fleeting expression on Kim’s face, and she knew she was right. _And she knows just what I’m talking about, too. She just likes to pretend it doesn’t exist, for some reason. What’s hurting her so much, damnit?_

“You aren’t. Even if I accept everything else you said about me, this just doesn’t make sense. Why should I be so different from anyone else?”

_You tell me, Kim,_ thought Leo, but didn’t say it. Instead, she said: “Not _anyone_ else. Remember when that friend of yours visited, what was her name – Trini?”

“Yes”, said Kim cautiously.

“She had that aura, too. And that guy who dropped out of nowhere couple of months ago – Billy was the name? - and Jason too”. Jason called often enough that Leo could recognize his voice on the phone. She decided to push her luck. “And you know what all three of them have in common, Kim?”

“What?” asked Kim – but Leo knew that she knew. It was obvious.

“They’re your friends from home. I don’t know what it is they’re feeding you in California, but it’s got to be something special”

“Don’t be…”

“And your one prize relationship that lasted more than fifteen weeks? That was back home too”

Silence.

“I’m not asking you to tell me, Kim”, said Leo gently. “But it takes a real idiot not to notice the way all you guys look at each other, the way you all move about. You’re different. There’s a light about you and I can’t claim to understand it, nor do I think I ever will. It’s just… you should know it’s there, that’s all. Maybe you can’t see it from the inside”

“If it’s like you say it is – and I’m not saying that I agree with anything you said”, said Kim carefully, her voice very low, “I still don’t understand what it has to do with Danny dumping me”

“You’re so much alive, Kim. You’re burning people up if they get too close. It’s one of your bigger attractions – god, you’d stand out in a crowd of a thousand – but it’s too hard on us plain humans”

“You’re holding just fine”, said Kim accusingly.

“Well, I’m not your girlfriend, am I?” retorted Leo. “And believe me, you’re almost wearing me out as it is”. Kim flinched. _Damn it! Think before you talk, stupid!_, Yelled Leo inside her head. “No – damn, Kim, don’t look like that, it’s not like you’re hurting me or something…”

“S’Okay, Leo”, whispered Kim. “I understand. So, what you’re saying is this”. Kim took a deep breath, then buried her face in her hand. “Am I going to be alone all my life?”

“Oh, Kim…” Leo got up from her chair and hugged the other woman. “I’m sure you’ll find someone, someday. The world can’t be so unjust”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better”

“No, I really think so”

“Doesn’t make it true”

“Do you think that the world is unfair?”

“Y… No”, admitted Kim. “I can’t think that. I can’t believe in that”. She sniffed. “I’m not going back to Tommy, though”

“Never said you should. Nothing good comes out of going back”

“If what you say is true, though… Then whoever I spend my life with, it’s got to be someone from the gang”. She made a face. “That’s just… yuck, ugh. They’re like my brothers, Leo. I can’t. It’s like…”

“I didn’t say that’s what you should do, Kim. Maybe there are more people like that out there somewhere, and you’ll meet one of them in time”

“Maybe” said Kim – but Leo could read on her expression that she didn’t believe it. _What aren’t you telling me, Kimberly?_ Wondered Leo yet again. _What’s the big secret that’s eating you up?_

Kim sniffed again. “Do we have ice cream?”


End file.
